Shipping Container Skates

Once a shipping container is set on the ground, it's very difficult to move to a new position. If you are able to chain up to the corner casting and drag the container to a new position you run the risk of gouging the pavement, concrete, or other surface that the container is sitting on. Until container skates came along.

What is a Container Skate? A shipping container skate is a plastic block that can be placed under the corner castings of a shipping container. This block allows the container to slide around easier with less chance of damage to the surface. You still won't be able to pull it by hand, but it does provide much less friction than steel. What is a Container Skate made of? As mentioned before, a container skate is made of plastic. More specifically, there are two types of materials used when making container skates, composite plastic and Delrin. The two are similar, however the Delrin container skates have a longer life and provide less resistance when being pulled. With that in mind, they do tend to be slightly more expensive.

How do Container Skates Work?

It's pretty simple actually, when the container is on the forklift, or lifted off the ground some other way (most likely a jack), the skate has an end that can be inserted into the corner casting and a pin can be slid through casting to hold it in place. Do this for two or four corners and lower the container back to the ground. From there chain up to the corner casting and slide the container into place being pulled by a truck or something similar.

 

Where can I buy Container Skates?

There isn't a huge demand for them outside of the shipping container world, so you can't expect to find them at the local Wall Mart or Target. Some sellers on Amazon or eBay have them, and you can also buy shipping container skates on ContainerLockBox.com.